An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

From, away, off.

M.E., from O.Fr., from L. ab "from, away from, out of, with" Gk.

→ apo-.

1) To leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.
2) To give up; discontinue; withdraw from (Dictionary.com).

M.E. abando(u)nen, from M.Fr. abandoner, from O.Fr. abandoner from adverbial phrase à bandon "at will, at discretion," from à "at, to," → ad-, + bandon "power, jurisdiction," from L. bannum "proclamation."

Râcidan, related to Pers. parhêz, parhiz "to keep away from, abstain, avoid," gurêz, goriz "to flee, run away;" Av. raēc- "to leave, let;" → heritage.

The reciprocal of the → dispersive power of a substance. Also known as constringence.

→ Abbe sine condition; → number.

In → geometric optics, a condition for eliminating → spherical aberration and → coma in an → optical system. It is expressed by the relationship: sin u'/U' = sin u/U, where u and U are the angles, relative to the → optical axis, of any two rays as they leave the object, and u' and U' are the angles of the same rays where they reach the image plane. A system which satisfies the sine condition is called → aplanatic.

Named after Ernst Karl Abbe (1840-1905), a German physicist; → sine; → condition.

The → locus of the intersection of input and output → conjugate rays in an optical system satisfying the → Abbe sine condition.

→ Abbe sine condition; → sphere.

1) If a → power series → converges for some nonzero value x₀, then it converges absolutely for any value of x, for which |x| < |x₀|.
2) If a power series → diverges for some nonzero value x₀, then it diverges for any value of x, for which |x| > |x₀|.

Named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829); → theorem.

A catalog of 4073 rich → galaxy clusters grouped by constellation and by catalog number. Published first in 1958, it contained the clusters visible from the northern hemisphere. A supplement for the southern hemisphere survey was published in 1988.

George O. Abell (1927-1983), American astronomer; → catalog.

Diverge or deviate from the straight path; produce → aberration.

Aberrate, from aberrare "go astray," from ab- "away" + errare "to wander."

Birâhidan, from birâh "a devious path; a wanderer, who deviates, errs," from bi- "without" + râh "way".

1) An imperfection in the imaging properties of a → lens or → mirror. The main aberrations are → chromatic aberration, → spherical aberration, → coma, → astigmatism, → distortion, and → field curvature.
2) → aberration of starlight.
See also: → aberration angle→ aberration constan→ aberration of starlight→ aberration orbit→ annual aberration→ chromatic aberration→ constant of aberration→ diurnal aberration→ optical aberration→ planetary aberration→ relativistic aberration→ secular aberration→ spherical aberration→ stellar aberration.

Aberration, from L. aberrationem, from aberrare "go astray," → aberrate.

Birâheš, from birâidan, → aberrate.

The angle tilt required by the → stellar aberration phenomenon in order that a moving telescope points directly to a star.

→ aberration; → angle.

Same as → constant of aberration.

→ aberration; → constant.

→ aberration of starlight

→ aberration; → light.

An apparent displacement in the observed position of a star. It is a result of the finite speed of light combined with the relative motion of the Earth through space. Suppose that you walk through a vertically falling rain with an umbrella over your head. The faster you walk, the further you must lower the umbrella in front of yourself to prevent the rain from striking your face. For starlight to enter a telescope, a similar phenomenon must occur, because the Earth is in motion. The telescope must be tilted in the direction of motion by an angle: tan θ =(v/c), where v the Earth velocity and c the speed of light. The aberration of starlight was discovered by the English astronomer James Bradley (1693-1762) in 1729 by observing → Gamma Draconis. The tilt angle is θ = 20''.50, from which the Earth's orbital speed, 29.80 km s^-1, can be deduced, using the above equation. See also → annual aberration; → diurnal aberration; → secular aberration. → Special relativity modifies the classical formula for aberration, predicting results which differ substantially from those of classical physics for objects moving at a substantial fraction of the speed of light; → relativistic aberration.

→ aberration; → star; → light.

The apparent path described by a star on the → celestial sphere due → annual aberration. A star at the → ecliptic pole is seen to move around a circle of angular radius about 20".50, once a year. A star on the → ecliptic oscillates to and fro along a line of angular half-length 20".50. At an intermediate → celestial latitude, β, the aberration orbit is an ellipse, with semi-major axis 20".50 and semi-minor axis (20".50) sin β.

→ aberration; → orbit.

Of or pertaining to → aberration.

→ aberration; → -al.

A → Besselian day number denoted by C or D.

→ aberration; → -al; → day; → number.

The → locus of points on the → celestial sphere occupied by a star during the annual → revolution of the → Earth about the → Sun due to → annual aberration. annual aberration.

→ aberrational; → ellipse.

The → erosion of a surface through a process such as → vaporization or → friction.

L. ablatio, ablation, from ablatus, from ab- "away" + latus "carried."

Farsâb from far-, prefix denoting "abundance, excess" + sâb present stem of sâbidan "to rub, wear out," variants sâyidan, pasâvidan "to touch," Khotanese sauy- "to rub," Sogdian ps'w- "to touch," Proto-Iranian *sau- "to rub."

Not typical, usual, or regular; not normal; deviant. → anomalous, → anomaly.

M.L. anormalis, blend of L.L. abnormis "deviating from a rule," from ab- "off, away from" + L. norma "rule."

Bihanjâr, from Pers. bi- "without" + Pers. hanjâr "rule, habit, law, staright road."

1) To terminate a procedure before it has finished naturally.
2) In computer science, to terminate an application intentionally or unexpectedly. For example, to stop a search or a print job; or unexpected termination of a program because of bugs or difficulties.

From L. abortus, p.p. of aboriri "to miscarry" (a child) from → ab- "from, away, off," + oriri "to rise, be born;" cf. Pers. rasidan "to attain; to arrive" (Mid.Pers. rasidan "to arrive, to mature;" O.Pers./Av. rasa- present stem of ar- "to move, go or come toward;" Skt. ar-, rcchati "reaches;" Gk. erkhomai "to go, to reach").

Fagânidan, from fagâné "abortion", related to fegandan, fekandan, afkandan "to throw, to cast away;" Mid.Pers. abgandan "to throw;" O.Pers. avakan- "to throw, place on," from Proto-Iranian *kan- "to throw, place, put."